Above Your Head

Chapter 27: Awakening (1)

"Open sesame."

The door opened and a pretty big hallway emerged. I walked in without hesitation.

[What the, you’re here again? How do you keep coming in?]

I lightly chuckled at the sight of Ares frowning while floating in the air with eyes as big as my upper body.

“This lil brat, acting grumpish even though you’re glad to see me.”

[Wha-, what did you say?]

I laughed at Ares’ flustered reaction and looked around.

I didn’t realize because I didn’t look closely when I first came here, but there were various kinds of weapons on display in the room Ares was in.

Among them, there were things like knives, bows, and even a halberd as tall as my height that looked similar to a Heavenly Halberd.

It looked like a weapons exhibition hall.

"Is there no place to sit? Why are there weapons everywhere... Oh, found it.”

I looked around and sat on a piece of armor that was rolling around.

It’s armor, but it’s more like something that was worn by a 3-meter-tall monster because it was so big that I almost felt like I was climbing up. Ares freaked out at the sight of me climbing up the armor.

[That\'s Warrior King Kadel’s armor! It’s a powerful armor that can protect its user against a meteorite strike and you are actually using it as your stool!]

"If it’s fine even after being hit by a meteorite, then it won’t get scratched just from me sitting on it," I replied nonchalantly and stared at Ares.

His expressions were vivid despite being a machine. He was just like a Transformers robot from an animation that I used to watch when I was young.

Well, he only had a head, so I didn’t know what his body would look like.

[...By the way, why are you here? Last time you just walked off.]

"Ahhh, it’s nothing much."

I asked frankly.

"By any chance, can you see what’s happening outside the spaceship?”

The reason I came all the way here was because of this hypothesis.

No matter how strong a God-rank Gigas was, it was impossible to fight in the condition that he was in — nothing but a head. Even if it was possible, his power would not be comparable to his original full power.

There would obviously be limits no matter how incredible someone was if they didn\'t have the arms to crush the enemy, or the body to emit infinite energy, nor the legs to kick the ground and fly around, right?

But, he only had his head left.

At the very least, wouldn\'t his head’s function remain?

Ares nodded confidently, proving my hypothesis correct.

[That’s right. I have the Eye of Ares, so I can not only see all the battlefields around me but also the omens of an impending war.]

"Ohhh~ That’s pretty incredible!"

[Incredible? Hahahaha! Of course! The Eye of Ares is the best even among the God\'s Eye series!]

He was bursting in laughter joyfully.

"What’s the situation of the war right now?"

[Beats me.]

I stuck my tongue out at Ares who was smiling slyly.

Tchh, I thought it was weird that he had his guard down, and I was hopeful at the thought of him answering my question, but I guess he isn’t that easy.

"Has the war even started yet?"

[What good would it do to even know - is what I would like to say, but, hehehe. Well, I can at least tell you this much.]

Ares grinned.

[Your allies will lose.]

"..."

I was lost for words at such a firm affirmation. I came because I just wanted to know what was going on with the war as I was slightly anxious, but I ended up hearing the worst outcome.

Furthermore, he continued nonchalantly even after seeing my reaction.

[They’ve been ambushed, and they did not grasp the enemy\'s strength, plus the enemies were fully prepared. Although I think the battle power of this ship is great in its own way, unfortunately the enemy possesses power greater than that.]

His bubbly face turned serious.

At least he didn’t lie about the war, and he was showing the real side of the ongoing war.

"Are you talking about a small-scale skirmish right now? If not, what are you referring to?"

[I\'m talking about the situation of the war as a whole. The ship will be defeated by the enemy, the crewmates will mostly die, and those that remain will also be trampled on by the enemy. The possibility of victory is less than 1%, so it’s a hopeless war.]

He declared like it was an unavoidable fate.

I was lost for words and stared at myself, however, Ares grinned and elaborated.

[But you’re not convinced just by hearing about it, right? Have a look yourself.]

As he explained, the background changed. * "This is crazy… An Exa-class Space Carrier? Are you telling me they brought something that even the Tekea Federation only has two units of, on top of that, a defensive-specialized Space Carrier, to this conflict zone?”

The Captain of the Albatross ship, Major General Chun Hyun-il, clenched his teeth. The giant white bear growled in the chair fitting of his body size located in the middle of the bridge deck.

-A Space Carrier?

I blurted out in surprise, but Major General Chun Hyun-il ignored me as he gritted his teeth and stared at the screen.

As I looked around, I could tell that I was at the bridge deck, which I’d only heard stories about.

-Unlike a Combat Cruiser that focuses on its own combat power, it\'s filled with fighter jets and Gigas. It\'s slow and it consumes a lot of supplies, so it can\'t handle its own supplies like a Combat Cruiser, furthermore, it can\'t travel long distances, so it\'s only used for defensive battles… Of course, if we’re talking purely about battle power, it’s much stronger than the Combat Cruiser. Because the amount of supplies they use is totally different.

Before I knew it, there was a man next to me wearing a vest-shaped plate-mail armor that clearly showed off his arms.

He looked like a Titan with fierce-looking eyes and gray hair drooping across, as well as muscular arms as big as my thighs, and massive thighs as thick as my waist.

-Ares?

-Yes, it’s me. But it\'s not the time to pay attention to me, is it?

I turned my head at Ares\' words and looked at the screen that showed the enemy\'s Space Carrier.

In an instant, light flashed from the top of the Space Carrier and illuminated the dark universe, revealing hundreds of thousands of fighter jets and Gigas surrounding Albatross.

[We declare in the name of Morne, the Great Sage who walks the path of truth! The wicked and evil humans will be trampled upon by our mighty army, unable to even escape…!]

It was transmitted with overwhelming force to everyone to the point where our heads were buzzing.

When I looked around and wondered what the sound was, I saw the flustered crew members.

"What the hell are you doing with the external broadcast, you crazy bastards! Besides, I can’t believe you spouted ‘Great Sage’ with your own mouth, you terrorist bastards---!!”

“Damn it, it’s the Transcendence Skill, Imjeonmutoe!”[1]

“He’s telling us to fight all the way till the end!!”

Screams and shrieks resonated throughout the battlefield.

And Hyun-il shouted,"Everyone, calm down and concentrate on the battle! Pass on the order to the troops to rally around the ship and to also prepare our Transcendence Skill.”

"Yes! Captain-nim!"

As Hyun-il stood up from his chair, it sank to the floor instantly and a huge ring, 5 meters in diameter, descended around him.

I wondered why there was no device near the chair where he was sitting, but it was probably because he wanted to bring out this layout.

-Transcendence Skill?

-It has two meanings. The first one is made by God-like beings, in other words, a skill that carries a powerful force beyond common sense, and the other one is... A superordinate concept of Ability. It\'s a technology that can be used using Transcendence Weapons, but in this case, it\'s the latter.

To use Inner Qi, it requires a strong mind and a talent for body strengthening, but the most important thing is the ability to use Mana.

If you didn’t have the ability to recognize and control Mana, no matter how excellent your body strengthening was, you would just be an outstanding martial artist, but you wouldn’t be a mighty warrior.

Likewise, even if you try to handle Mana, your talent for Mana is essential.

Amazing intelligence and wisdom are important too, but it\'s useless if you’re not able to handle Mana.

However, the talent needed to become an outstanding Gigas pilot is, \'the ability to synchronize with the Iron Heart.’

Of course, piloting skills and situational judgement ability during combat are also important.

Just like how battle sense is necessary for an Inner Qi user and how intelligence is prerequisite to being a wizard, if a pilot is bad at piloting, then it’s useless no matter how amazing their ability to synchronize is.

However, since it is possible to acquire the necessary piloting skills with a certain amount of training, in the end, what matters most is the ability to synchronize with the Iron Heart.

The proper name of Iron Heart is [Magical Energy Mechanical Organ].

Surprisingly, several species that reached the peak of Type IV Civilization succeeded in creating a ‘Generator that produces Soul Energy’.

However, the energy produced by an Iron Heart is closer to pure energy, and in order for it to become genuine soul energy, the process of synchronizing with the Iron Heart and injecting it with intent is necessary.

And those with that ability will become pilots of the fighter jets and Gigas; and depending on their personality, characteristics and abilities, they will be able to draw out special abilities from the Iron Heart.

That\'s what a Gigas pilot’s Special Ability is, and among them, those with exceptional or rare abilities will become the Captain of a giant fleet or battleship.

-No, wait a minute. Where is the Transcendence Weapon right now?

-Tsk tsk, you dumb fool. Most battleships above the Terra-class are Transcendence Weapons. Of course, since this is mass produced among the Transcendence Weapons, the grade is quite low. Oh, it’s written there too.

He pointed to a wall on one side. I looked at the wall and something was written there.

5,000 Series

Albatross

Looking at the two sentences written on the wall as though it was some glorified achievement, I questioned.

-5000 Series?

-That\'s the ranking it’s at. Transcendence Weapons don\'t have a clear ranking unless it’s in the top 1,000.

-Oh, I see… No, wait. Come to think of it, he’s able to handle a Transcendence Weapon?

I inadvertently stared at Hyun-il, the Captain of Albatross. A white aura was whirling around him.

Ares nodded gently.

-That’s right. That bear is a transcendent. He’s the sole person with at least the tiniest speck of qualification to pilot me in this ship.

It was then.

[Howl---------!!!!!]

Along with the roar, an enormous pressure spread out in all directions.

The pressure was so overbearing that even the crewmates that were familiar with Hyun-il’s temperament while working staggered.

I was overwhelmed and lost for words for a while, as Ares continued his explanation while staring at me.

-It’s better to see this outside.

At his words, the background changed instantly.

Before I knew it, we moved to a place far away from Albatross, and we were now looking at Albatross.

Kabooom--! Booooom-!

Bang!

With a tremendous blast of impact from Albatross, the fighter jets and Gigas surrounding Albatross began to explode at random.

It was an attack that was tantamount to a space typhoon made of intense soul energy.

-Fenrir’s Howl. It\'s a pretty famous skill even among the Transcendence Skills. He\'s a Martial Arts-type Transcendent, but at the same time he’s also born with the qualities of a fairly impressive pilot.

According to Ares, it’s the only reason Hyun-il was ‘barely’ able to become a Major General. This was because though his ancestral origin was that of a spiritual animal, he was born as an ordinary bear.

In other words, if he were human, he would have already gone up to the position of Great General.

-No, wait. Even though such a powerful transcendent is the Captain... Our chance of victory is still less than 1%?

-Kekeke. By nature, one hand can\'t go up against ten hands.

Ares smiled bitterly and looked at the Space Carrier.

-The enemies are the ones that are stronger than anything.

[A beast that survives by licking the soles of man, still struggling desperately huh!]

The spiritual howl that resonated loudly throughout outer space reached even our ears.

Unlike Hyun-il who just invoked the Transcendence Weapon, the leader of the enemy’s army seemed to be fairly filled with vainglory, given that he shouted like that every time he used a skill.

But even though he was filled with excessive pride, his ability was the real deal.

Krieeekkk---

-Oh my God, What the hell is that!?

I was appalled at the gigantic spear that appeared in outer space.

To my surprise, the spear was longer than Albatross which was already considerably bigger than a decent city, and it was shining by itself.

The spear, which had an ancient and antique appearance in general, vibrated in the air for a moment and then struck Albatross like lightning.

Whooooosh-!

And against that, a white shield emerged from Albatross and clashed against the spear.

I felt an infinite amount of power exuding from the cross-shaped shield that seemed to be able to block any kind of attack, which was clearly different from the usual shield that protected the ship.

-The Shield of White Cross. It’s a pretty good defensive-type Transcendence Weapon.

However, Ares shook his head, hinting that it didn’t stand a chance.

-But it’s not enough to stop the God Spear Alieta.

Bang!

Along with the explosion, the universe disappeared in one burst, and before I knew it, I was back in front of Ares’ huge head.

I fell from the shock that travelled across the quaking floor.

[Oh my. Albatross has been penetrated. About 300 people were killed or blasted into space with this one attack. See, I said so right?]

Ares spoke indifferently.

[The chance of victory is less than 1%.]

1. Imjeonmutoe refers to a proverb in Korean which means to Never Retreat in Battle. It’s one of the 5 ways of Hwarang, the Flower Knights of the Silla Kingdom.